Tourist arrivals and bed-nights increased substantially in November 2021 compared to the same month in 2020 while it had exceeded pre-pandemic levels in November 2019.
According to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) in their latest economic update the tourit arrivals rose to 144,725 in 2021 which is a 5% increment compared to November 2019 during which the tourist arrivals stood at 137,921.
Meanwhile, tourist bed-nights registered a growth of 19% during the period.
The annual increase in tourist arrivals reflected the base effect of slow pick-up in tourist arrivals in November 2020 post the border reopening and the surge in arrivals from main source markets with the commencement of peak tourism season.
The top five source markets to the Maldives during the review month were India, Russia, Germany, USA and UK – in that order.
Operational bed capacity of the tourism industry observed an increase of 14,816 beds when compared with November 2020 – and an increase of 19,140 beds when compared with October 2021.
Occupancy rate rose to 68% during the review month from 64% in October 2021 and 25% compared to November 2020.
Tourist arrivals from January to November increased by 152% in annual terms whereas it was below 70% during the same period in 2020 while the total bed-nights of the industry during the same period in 2021 observed a growth of 160% while it was below 65% in the corresponding period in 2020.
Moreover, the average duration of stay decreased to 8.8 days during the period from 19.3 days in 2020.